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Recently a study was conducted by the Columbia University that explains why the famous northern lights of the Arctic may be making its way into South in the coming years as Earth's magnetic field weakens. The researchers at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University discovered that the planet's magnetic field is waning and as a result, the solar winds will also be affected and the way they reflect off the field's surface. According to the team, this phenomenon will cause the northern lights, also known as, Aurora Borealis, to shift towards the South from the Arctic and appear more frequently in Canada and even the United States, as reported by Tech Times.

"The Earth's magnetic field more or less keeps the solar wind at bay, and it's the solar wind interacting with the field that contributes to the auroras," Dennis Kent, paleomagnetism expert at Columbia and one of the authors of the study, explains National Post. He adds, "With a strong field, that interaction is pushed to high latitudes. With a weaker field more of the Earth is bathed in these charged particles."

Kent also said that one effect of this phenomenon is that Aurora Borealis may even occur at the lower latitudes. Even Aurora Australis, or the southern lights, can experience the same movement, only northwards.

The shift of northern lights is evident with frequent occurrence of the light in Ottawa region where it was not so common. The researchers at Columbia University are researching the reason that led to the weakening of Earth's magnetic field. According to the researchers, in the past the field reached the strength at an all time high level but has receded towards a lower average recently. The findings published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggest that the magnetic field has declined by 10% in the past 20 years.